Chapter Thirteen
I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t do this, I can’t-
Lights above. An exasperated voice broke through Twilight’s litany of dread. If you would stop bemoaning your ignorance, you could begin to fix it.
Twilight blinked, and blushed. Across from her, Spike’s tail twitched irritably. Twilight flashed the dragoness an apologetic smile, and tightened her mental shields again, trying to focus on what was being discussed.
“As far as we can tell, this movement means that Rylias is preparing to move en masse towards some tactical point. What they could want in the Waste, nopony is sure, but they may be using it as a staging ground to enter both Selene and Helios,” The soldier said, standing at attention before the watchful eyes of Helios’ Lords and Ladies.
One of them, Lady East, was fretting at her lower lip, while her hoofmaid was scribbling notes furiously. It made sense that she would be worried. Her lands bordered the Waste. In the past, the barren stretch of land, the scar of some long forgotten conflict of titanic powers, had served as a wonderful barrier protecting the fertile lands. Without water, or any real source of food, trying to cross the Waste was a feat just shy of active suicide. Only a few narrow trails led from small spring to small spring, zigzagging their ways across the dust.
If the dragons had found a way to keep whatever forces that they had assembled alive in the Waste…
Twilight’s eyes narrowed in thought, and she took a closer look at the magical map being projected in the center of the room. The rich red fabric stained the bright blue lights an eye searing purple, but the model was more than large enough to allow details to be seen. If she remembered correctly, then there was a small outpost along the eastern edge of Selene’s border.
Spotting the outpost, Twilight tried to tune out the chattering of the council. Some were arguing about what to do, while others were talking about raising taxes to fund the army. To her slight surprise, the same mental shields that kept her from ‘yelling’ her thoughts also provided some measure of defense against physical sounds as well. Twilight took a moment to strengthen the shields, and went back to looking at the map.
Suppose she were leading Rylias, and everything she had heard indicated that there was a single leader coordinating the different Dragonkin. If she were planning an invasion, why would she attack that way? There wasn’t much to offer along the Eastern borders of real military value. It was rich farmland, but Helios had that in plenty, and while it was where most of the Selenian farmers worked and lived, the vast majority of the dark nation’s foodstuffs were traded and imported.
There were no mountains of silver ore, or any known deposits of any other rare mineral either, at least as far as anypony in Helios knew.
Luna? Twilight sent the thought out to brush her wife’s mind, and would have giggled at the way the centuries old mare jumped like a colt caught kissing the Lord’s daughter. Sadly, Twilight was still focused on the task at hoof. Are there any metals in the hills along Selene’s Eastern border?
Not that I am aware of. Luna replied, trying to hide a smile. Her amusement colored her thoughts though, and Twilight looked up, momentarily distracted from her thoughts. Ever since their ‘honeymoon’ had been cut short by an urgent council meeting about Rylias suddenly mobilizing, Twilight had been spending more and more time communicating with her wife mind to mind. The connection was one that was amazingly convenient, and, in the privacy of her own mind at least, Twilight was thrilled that she was beginning to learn how to feel the emotions behind thoughts. If she had any doubts about Luna caring for her, a moment’s contact with the mare cured them. Why do you ask?
Thinking. Twilight replied, a little abruptly, before returning to her examination. She could feel the other Princess’ annoyance at being brushed off before a wave of chagrin and embarrassment washed over the ancient mare. A wordless, warm ‘hug’ echoed along their mental link, and brought a small smile to Twilight.
The rolling hills surrounding the Waste, on both sides, were excellent for cultivation. Several scholars, including the lauded Maud Pie, had made extensive geological survey’s of the area, determining the compositions of the rocks, and the method of their formation as best they could. From what Twilight remembered, several centuries ago, a stallion had postulated that the rocks had been formed from molten slag. Something about a powerful magical artifact caught in a power loop and imploding from feedback.
Most geologists believed this hypothesis, even after several magical scholars ran calculations that made it impossible for any implosion powerful enough to carve the region to not carve it into a neat circle, like somepony took a melonballer to the earth itself. The geological community insisted that the mathematics were flawed, or that the artifact that malfunctioned was not of unicorn make, or at least, that it was nothing like modern artifacts.
The newer breed of geologists, who supposed that all rocks form along a few basic principles, suggested some kind of volcanic event. That the hills were simply built up magma plumes, and that scarred landscape was rich in some mineral lethal to plants. Their idea had a lot of support, more than the artifact camp, because it would account for the odd shaping of the Waste, as well as the surprising fertility of the land around it.
Maud Pie published a book on the Waste several years ago, which had a different explanation. She like many ponies who visited the Waste, had noticed that there was a gradual, but still noticeable, grade to the ground. It all sloped down towards the center of the waste. Maud suspected that it was the scar of some kind of cataclysmic magic, yes, but not a feedback loop. She thought that something used magic to obliterate… something, in the center of where the waste now stood. That whatever the magic had been, it had slagged all of the rock near the blast sight, turning anything that lived nearby into a flaming comet.
Though she was a young mare, she was very much respected in the geologic field, and her ideas were gaining weight as more and more ponies tested them, and found her entirely correct. The sudden appearance of the Waste, and the unnatural fertility of the lands bordering it, would be explained in her model, and without the expanding globe of magic, the shockwaves of whatever spell it had been would have only broken through rocks that were too weak, explaining the long, relatively narrow, stretch of wasteland.
The thought twigged something in Twilight’s mind, and she grabbed at the logic with gusto. Something in the center of the waste had been a threat, a threat so dangerous that something had cast a spell of almost unthinkable power to destroy it. They had managed it, but the scars of whatever spell it had been were still healing. There were caves dotted all over the Waste, most of them half fused shut when the molten rock around their entrances deformed.
Caves. Something about caves. Caves, where dragons hide their treasure. Twilight thought, eyes flickering to Spike. Caves, and a harsh, hot environment. Maud had written something about evidence that the area had originally been a… a. Damn it. Twilight snarled, forgetting to keep her thoughts soft, and noticed Luna, Celestia, and Spike all wince at her shout. Sorry.
It had been something like a huge volcano, a… calderon? Calmer? Something like cauldron. Anyway, a huge, fairly flat volcano. Maud said that she had seen evidence of another such caldum near the southern border of the Gryphon Empire on one of her trips. When the volcano released pressure, it vented superheated magma out of numerous vents, collapsing into the bowl where the lava had been.
So, a giant, now extinct volcano, with lots of caves. The perfect habitat for dragons of all varieties, except the Linnorms. The overgrown Wyrms preferred their swamps to a magma bath, but still. Something was still tickling Twilight’s mind, so she went over the facts again. It was a dragon habitat, that suddenly became barren and untenable. Something collapsed the area with enough force to melt rocks all around it, despite there already being magma nearby. And the dragons were returning there to stage a coup into Selene and Helios. Why would they want to attack either country though?
They don’t. It was a simple thought, but Twilight straightened abruptly. Abruptly enough that everypony in the room turned to look at her. ”Oh” Twilight mumbled. “Light.”
“Would you care to inform us of what you are thinking, Princess?” Lady Grey asked, politely as ever. She seemed ever so slightly amused, as Twilight’s movements had made Golden Bushel stop his ranting about taxes. As if everypony didn’t know he kept a portion of the taxes for himself.
“I was just…” Twilight trailed off, turning to look at Spike over the gleaming table. “Spike, can I ask you something?”
“You obviously just did.” Spike smirked, fangs gleaming a brighter purple than her scales in the reflected light. “But I will allow another.”
“How old are you?” Twilight asked, making several nobles snicker behind raised hooves, while one or two snorted in disgust at the mare’s impropriety.
“You should never ask a lady her age,” Spike teased, adopting an overly dramatic voice. “Why, I think I may faint.”
Twilight rolled her eyes, and just looked back at the dragon, making Spike pout. “Fine.” She said, petulantly sticking out her lower lip to further enhance her mocking pout. “I’m almost twelve thousand years old. Why?”
Twilight ignored the question, instead using her horn to create a glowing purple dot on the map, right at the dead center of the Waste. “Do you know what used to be here?”
Spike shrugged, indifferent. “It was an old breeding ground, one of the oldest in fact. Something happened while I was taking a nap, and when I woke up, it had been a wasteland for a few decade, and nopony knew what happened.”
“I know that this is-“ Twilight started, before forcing herself to be more dominant. “Most dragon mages specialize in fire magic, correct?”
She saw Luna smile next to her, and another warm thought, full of amusement with a dash of happiness at her more forceful attitude rippled into Twilight. A moment’s thought, and Spike nodded.
“Yes, most dragons are fire mages, though with how long our lives are, many who begin with that talent often learn how to cast other types of magic as well. Care to share with the class what you are thinking?”
Twilight pointed to the dot, which hadn’t moved while the projector slowly rotated. “I think I know why they are heading into the Waste.” Twilight said, and turned to the stallion. “Can you make a different map? More like a paper map? Looking at things from further away I mean.”
The guard nodded his head, more than a little confused by the strange mare. Carefully, he zoomed further and further away from the Waste, until the Heart came into focus at the edge of the map.
“Stop!” Twilight ordered, and the guard dutifully stopped panning out. Quickly, Twilight’s horn lit up and she drew lines along the surface of the map with magic. Starting with the Heart, and the leylines that ran through it, she drew as many lines as she could.
One of the older stallions, a baron in a Western Province, snorted. “She marries a princess, and thinks she can just interrupt meetings of the council.” He grunted, speaking loud enough to be overheard, while just softly enough that he could have meant to be mumbling inaudibly. Luna’s eyes narrowed as she surveyed the stallion. “Liked her better when she kept her mouth shut and just took notes.”
The aide by the stallion saw the Night Mare’s eyes narrow dangerously, and she moved away from her Lord as subtly as she could.
Twilight finished drawing the lines, and looked up. When she did, she saw a few unicorns nodding slightly, understanding what she had drawn, but looking just as lost as everypony else watching. Only the Princesses and Lady North’s eyes widened as they noticed the same peculiarity Twilight had.
“Everypony knows what a leyline is?” Twilight asked mildly, using the same polite, emotionless voice Celestia had occasionally used. Her eyes smoothly locked onto the old stallion, before slowly moving along. The council gave a collective nod, even the stuffy members forgetting to mock her under their breath.
“There are hundreds of leylines all throughout Helios, and I’m sure Selene has a vast number as well.” Twilight looked to her wife, who nodded amicably.
“I could draw them for you, if you wish.” She said.
“No need,” Twilight said, looking once again around the room. “Does everypony notice that the leylines just stop when they hit the waste?”
“Where nopony could note where the leylines are?” A young mage asked, looking up from his notes with a blotch of ink staining his snout.
“Wrong, we can still check the length and direction of the lines. But in the Waste, there aren’t any.”
The student’s eyes widened, as did everypony who’d had a basic course in magical theory. Twilight explained for the benefit of her audience. “One of the less known facts about a leyline is that it draws it magic from the environment around it. The more life, the more powerful the leyline, which in turn makes the environment more healthy. These effects loop until the leyline is saturated with magic, and then it just dispenses the magic wherever it is needed.
“In the Waste though, there are no leylines.”
“Because everything died there?” Lady Minnow Creek asked, cocking her head to the side.
“Yes, and no.” Twilight said, trying not to get annoyed at the slower members of the council. A few Lords and Ladies had glassy eyes, and she knew they were only pretending to listen. She tried to pay them no mind.
“Yes, the lack of wildlife would have sucked some of the life out of the leyline. It would have taken centuries to recover from the damage done to its power, but it would recover.
“Here,” Twilight pointed her horn at the Waste. “Is something different. It wasn’t that something killed everything, and the leylines vanished. Somepony destroyed the leylines themselves, and the effect kept anything from returning to the area. It almost looks like somepony moved ALL of the magic that used to be in the Waste, and pushed it beyond the borders. That is why the area is so fertile, because there is more magic to nurture the plants.”
Several heads nodded, including Spike, and Twilight almost hummed with pleasure. It only lasted for a moment though, before the seriousness of the topic hit home. “I think that Rylias is expecting us to attack them where they will be weak. They want us to think that there is nothing in the Waste.”
“There isn’t anything in the waste,” the baron said, snorting in annoyance.
“Precisely.” Twilight emphasized, looking straight at the overweight stallion. Even in normal lighting, his mustard yellow fur looked positively hideous. Here, it was an abomination. “There is nothing. No food, no water, and most importantly, no magic. Dragons are fire mages, and every mage knows that fire is a purely innate element. They will be the least affected by the lack of ambient magic, using their spells to add power to their fire breath. Meanwhile, our entire military structure revolves using magic to cover our troops. Without that shield, we would be slaughtered.”
“It’s a trap?” Spike said, rolling her eyes. “You could have just said, it’s a trap.”
“That doesn’t matter.” Lady Grey objected, flashing Twilight a small, apologetic glance. “Trap or not, if we do not engage, then there will be no way to prevent them from raiding both of our nations at their leisure.”
Twilight grimaced, but nodded. “I-“ she began, before looking at her wife. Luna smiled at her, and nodded her head.
I trust you to say what you feel needs to be said, Twilight. Luna thought to her.
“I know.” Twilight said, looking Lady Grey in the eye. “What I’m saying is, that when we engage, we need to do it with a better strategy. We can’t use magic in the Waste. And if we don’t do something, then they will slowly bleed us to death. One family at a time.”
The council was quiet for a long moment, thinking. Slowly, Celestia rose to her hooves. “We have much to think about. The council will reconvene tomorrow evening. I will send a courier when I have determined the time.”
“What was that back there?” Shining Armor asked, pulling Twilight aside as the council chambers began to empty. The stuffy Lords did their best to ignore the two commoners, something that made the hairs on Shining’s neck bristle. He did his best to ignore them in turn, but he couldn’t keep the small frown off his face when he turned back to Twilight.
“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, following her big brother’s example in trying to ignore the nobility.
“That thing you did. With the map, and the leylines. How did you know what their plan was?”
“Oh, that?” Twilight asked, surprised. “All I did was think about why they would want to move there.”
“So was everypony,” Shining said slowly, like he were explaining something to a foal. That got Twilight’s hackles up.
“There isn’t any useful military resource in the area. Along both borders, the only tactical advantage you have is having decided the grounds, and forcing everypony to respond to you. If we did nothing, then they would have been free to attack every settlement within a few hours flight of the Waste, which would cripple us, and cost thousands of lives. The only reason to declare open combat like that, so obviously, is for either a very important resource, or to force us to react, acting in haste and making a mistake. If we had just marched into battle, like we do against the gryphons, then the absence of ambient magic wouldn’t be something we’d realize until we were in the midst of battle.”
Shining nodded slowly. “Right, because we’d still have the power in our bodies, so we wouldn’t immediately notice that it wasn’t being restored.”
“Exactly, at which point they would slaughter us while our troops panicked.”
“Okay,” Shining agreed, wincing at the thought of what his next words would cost. “But we can’t let them set up a base in the Waste either. We don’t have much of a choice.”
“Maybe,” Twilight hedged. Her eyes narrowed in thought, and she looked past Shining. “I.. I need to check a few things.”
Twilight turned, trotting away quickly, deep in thought. Shining blinked after her, taken aback. Twilight hadn’t just… dismissed anypony before. Had she? He shook his head, and sighed.
“Is it just me,” Luna said, walking up behind the stallion and making him jump. “Or does my Twilight seem... “
“Distracted, Princess?” Shining supplied, giving the black alicorn a rueful smile. “I don’t know. She’s always been sort of… detached, I guess. Since she didn’t really have friends growing up, and Cadance and I were always so busy, she doesn’t really understand how to act around ponies sometimes.”
“So I gathered,” came Luna’s dry response. She nodded to the guard Captain as she walked past. Shining scrambled to bow in response, slipping and barely catching himself before his nose fell onto the marble floor. Princess Luna chuckled, and walked off.
Meanwhile, Twilight was lost in thought, heading towards the library to research. She still had a niggling feeling about the whole report. Something that didn’t add up. Mentally, she started writing up a list.
Activity is noticed in Rylias.
Dragons start to mobilize in large numbers, indicating an attack force.
The flighted dragons have the advantage in that they can pillage.
There is no magic in the Waste.
Any defensive movements from Helios and Selene would take heavy casualties.
Those casualties would, almost certainly, drive off the dragons.
Then is clicked. Supply. The entire Helian Army’s supply line was magically maintained. Most of the spells that kept it running smoothly and efficiently were open enchantments, drawing on the magic of their surroundings to power them. The moment the supply line hit the Waste, the lack of ambient magic in the area would siphon off everything in the supply train as well. The whole thing would collapse in a few days, at the very most.
The supplies weren’t like enchanted weapons, able to draw power from a local source, like a pony or a crystal. They had to be open ended by their very nature, or nopony could remove what they needed from the caravans. And by fighting in the Waste, the dragon’s secured another advantage for themselves.
“Typical.” Twilight huffed. She turned in place for a moment to regain her bearings. With a goal now in mind, she set off for the library at a trot, grumbling to herself.
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WHAT
It's baaaa-aaaaack!
Oh, and
I think IN is supposed to be In?
Hype train baby !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT LIIIIIIIIIVES!!!!
ITS ALIVE!
Yes!
Couple of minor things that I'm PM'ing you, but it seems to be perking right along again. Keep it up.
OH SHIIIIT!!!! UPDATE!!!!!
I'll keep reading this wonderful bit of world crafting you've got here until either it's finished or you stop.
Either way, it's a pleasure to read.
Oh hey. It's alive. Neat!
Wait what?! Wasn't this cancelled?!
HOOOOOOH IT'S ALIVE YEAH!
An update? This is highly unexpected.
Regardless I'll keep reading about this wonderful little universe. Also quite a bit of plot for an unexpected update, yet it's good and helps build more of the ongoing storyline.
The side of me that like to whine about things wants to feel bad for all of the comments, mine and everybody else's, that "subtly" hinted at the desire to see this continued, and the possibility you were guilted into it.
The side of me that isn't a complete waste of time though says hi, and indicates cookies are by the door.
The site tried to hide it from me, But I knew better, so when I saw that this lovely story had published another chapter I immediately went into i.ytimg.com/vi/vxotESLumCg/maxresdefault.jpg mode. And now I shall start reading like a boss.
HELL! FUCKING! YES!!!
Now i need to reread the hole thing.
6068759
Don't feel bad. While it did slightly upset me, this is in no way inspired by guilt. I'm writing because I enjoy it. Also, I think the deer ate my cookies, cause they be gone.
I don't know quite how to feel right now.
It certainly isn't that I'm unhappy, or that I don't like the update; far from it.
I suppose that I feel like I've suddenly bumped into an old friend that I haven't seen or even been in contact with for a very long time, and while I'm overjoyed to see them again, both of us have changed and I'm not wholly certain how I ought to react and behave anymore.
I suppose the only remedy is to become reacquainted with one another.
Hello, old friend. It's absolutely wonderful to see you again.
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/182/6/9/dancing_tobi_by_kaminari_ichigo-d55kzjb.gif
Before I allow myself to get emotionally invested in this story, is it ever going to get cancelled again?
And as long as chapters are coming, we're going to read them. What a strange coincidence!
Nice to see this being back from the dead.
One thing that confused me: how much time lies between this chapter and the one before it? Was the 'honeymoon' Twi referred to their return to Selene and they came back for the council meeting (which sounds a bit implausible to me--also, I was really looking forward to finally see Selene), or does the council meeting take place the day immediately after last chapter's night (which would be confusing because Twilight said that she recently spoke more often eith her wife via telepathy, which we've IIRC not seen before).
Wonderful, happy day! One of my favorites has updated! Welcome back, Nadake. We missed you.
You go back and forth between leyline and layline. I think "leyline" (with an e) is the usual spelling.
Here, and elsewhere: should be Dragons .
like a pony or a crystal.
Also, you might want to change the Author's Note at the end of Chapter Twelve, since it still says "Edit: I have discontinued this story. "
I'm glad to see this back in the light of day. And I hope to find that you can keep enjoying the writing of this as well.
6069072
TOBI IS A GOOD BOY!
6069139
Nope. I have never played Destiny, and have only watched a few minutes of the gameplay. My laptop nearly had an aneurysm at the thought.
6069258
It very well may. Like I said, I make no promises, but I will write until I no longer enjoy doing so.
6069442
It is a short time, about a week, after the end of chapter twelve. Their plans were interrupted by the message from the scout. And I'll be honest, I haven't reread everything witha fine toothed comb. I can't reread my own writing. I just skim over it and fill in the blanks with memory. So there are probably going to be some continuity errors, but they shouldn't be major. If you notice some, let me know, either in a comment of PM, and I'll try to fix them. If not... magic.
I almost thought my update feed had made a mistake. What a pleasant surprise!
I'll keep reading as long as you keep writing. Thanks for the update.
6069890
Why yes, it was. It makes sense as a method for forcing someone to speak the truth. Also, good catch.
6069718
In that case, may I suggest to include that information in the text to prevent any future confusion? Maybe something like this:
You make me happy
It's un-discontinued!
Welcome back was holding out hope that you would return. This story you have created has a great flow to it. For as long as you'll write it I'll keep it for reading.
I think the proper term to use right now is "O frabjous day! Callooh, callay!"
6070032
Glossing over the time jump was actually intentional, and it's brought up in the first bit of chapter 14, which I'm currently fiddling with. I never took a formal writing course, so I'm not sure what the terminology is, but I've always been a fan of organic storytelling, when the story doesn't supply all the details at once. You can see what Twilight or Luna is thinking, and the information that comes to them during a situation, like how Twilight started going through all the stuff she knew about the Waste. But because it wasn't on her mind, the jump between the two chapters isn't mentioned. It is on Luna's mind, as an annoyance, and it gets explained later.
I think the best examples of this style I've seen are in the Dresden Files, where Harry will come up with a plan, and we won't find out what it is until possibly much later. I find that it adds both suspense, as well as engaging me as a reader more, so I try to emulate that in my own writing.
Welcome back you have been missed.
And update
6070516
I've never read any of the Dresden stuff, but the technique does sound interesting. I'm interested to see it happen in the next chapter.
YES an Update, now to reread everything. Glad you are back it was worth the wait.
6071302 Because "Being gay is wrong" isn't exactly a good reason to stand by now, is it?
IT LIVES?!
Oh, nice strategic thinking on the Dragon's part there. I like seeing magical world-building.
6072523
I thought it would be nice to have a pony villain who wasn't so.. idiotic. As much as I love Chryssy, she is still one of the few villains to come in with a plan, and succeed. Pity she tripped at the finish line, I thought that the Swarm had interesting potential.
It was a little hard though. I had to keep talking myself out of the mental chess match with my inner Sun Tzu, reminding myself that Twilight wouldn't be quite as jaded and cynical, and that she would eventually assume she understood their plan.
I'm glad I kept this on my watch list. However you delivery it is up to you.
But your sorry had one of the most unique and established feel for a real mlp world. Different customary words and swears, hints at customs and history without having to spell it ask out.
It feels really... Solid. Grounded in its own way without making a lot of fanfare.
In short you've got a great writing style for fantasy.
I'm so happy this is happening.
Welcome back, you dweeb.
glad to see you revived from the dead. :D had too many bodies around here as it was. ^_^
6074391 Mainly to this. You have me double taking because the switch between the scream to talking about a dragon. is too abrupt. I suggest that you start it with Twilight saying it was a dragon that cause the scream.
Also that you should make it a bit more clear that Spike ends up a dragoness. Like when she shrinks to the form she is using which is also confusing what exactly she is now.
I'll tell more in a PM
I'm glad to see this story come back. It's is a good tale :)
OMG it Lives!
Wait a minute... There's no way Twilight wouldn't know what a caldera is. She knows all about leylines and such, but not what a caldera is? That's hard to believe.
. . . What was this story about again?
Well, as there's nothing in the Waste to destroy, then there isn't really any reason to hold back. Just wait until the bad guys set up their camp and then drop another magical nuke onto them. That's probably where Twilight is going - to work out how to build/cast said SMD (Spell of Mass Destruction).